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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172625">Red and Gold part 2</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hardrada/pseuds/Hardrada'>Hardrada</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:48:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172625</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hardrada/pseuds/Hardrada</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow up to Red &amp; Gold.  The suspicions in that fic are investigated in this one and Jim, as usual, ends up in trouble.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Red and Gold part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <em>Hi all</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Okay, this is (finally) the conclusion of Red &amp; Gold.  Quick reminder that this takes place very much in my AU.  Jim is young, inexperienced and paranoid.  He is a long way from being able to command a starship.  Pike is still alive, although he did suffer injuries during the Nerada incident.  He is on occasion in this fic, in full on Dadmiral mode. And Bones is - Bones.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Couple of possible triggers I should perhaps warn you about.  There is kidnapping in this, and hostage holding.  And boy, is there language.  I know all my fics are full of naughty words, but Jim excels himself in this one!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Lots of angst, lots of anger in this one as well.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>This one took a lot of doing because I wanted to get it right, so I hope it was worth it and that you enjoy it.  I need to get back to lighter fics though - crikey, this one was hard work!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>As ever, thanks for everything - all the kudos, all the comments.  They keep me going.</em>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Admiral Pike sat back with a sigh and read the latest message received from Kirk and McCoy.  His hip ached and he twisted slightly, trying to ease the pain.  </p>
<p>The <em>Enterprise</em> hummed around him, the movement through the stars so subtle and so infinitely powerful that it was barely noticeable and yet she ate up the distance with ease.  His crew were just as subtle, doing their jobs, making sure the ship ran smoothly.  He glanced up at his First Officer and then back down at the comms screen.  “We’re not close enough”, he said.  “Nowhere near close enough for my liking.  Those two - trouble-making world-shakers - are on their own, and we’re not close enough”.</p>
<p>He saw Spock’s eyebrow raise at the terms he had used, but didn’t care.  He loved Kirk like a son, and he had sent him into this potential danger.  If anything happened to him, Pike knew he would never forgive himself.</p>
<p>“They’re sending them back to Omega”, he clarified, once again nodding at the screen.  “I worry now that there’ll be an ‘accident’ on the way back.  I just hope that they haven’t drawn attention to themselves”.  Even as he said it, he knew that was unlikely; Jim Kirk was unable to not draw attention to himself.  It was a question of how much attention he had attracted not whether he had been noticed.</p>
<p>“There is surely no reason to believe that”, Spock said, his tone as level as ever.  “After all, they are not considered to be important; simply two cadets who have been exiled”.</p>
<p>“You’re right, I hope”, Pike responded, scrubbing his face with his hand.  “How much longer before we arrive?”</p>
<p>“Two days, three hours”, Spock answered.  “We are scheduled to begin preparations for entering orbit tomorrow, and we will be dropping out of warp tomorrow evening”.</p>
<p>“And then we find Admiral T’kal”.  Pike nodded.  “We have nothing we can do until we dock.  Kirk and McCoy are travelling there as well; they may even have arrived”.  He shifted his position again, eager to up and doing, eager to be moving on to whatever happened next.  Eager to see Jim, if he were being honest.  He realised that he was tapping an impatient tattoo on the desk in front of him and noticing Spock’s eyes moving down to watch, he made himself stop.</p>
<p>“Just need to get moving”, he admitted.  “Discover what’s happened, just what they’ve managed to achieve in so short a space of time”.</p>
<p>“They do seem remarkably - attracted to trouble”, Spock said carefully.</p>
<p>Pike laughed loudly.  “They are that”, he said.  “They are that”.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Pike thought about the message all that day.  Possible corruption at the highest level.  The one thing Starfleet prided itself on being free of.  These damn outposts thought they ruled themselves, could do what they wanted.  Well, they were going to have to play with the grown-ups now, and they didn’t come much more grown up than Christopher Pike when he was angry.</p>
<p>And he was angry, he couldn’t deny it. His boy - his <em>son</em> - was in danger, and he had been the one to expose him to it.  If anything happened to either of them, he would never forgive himself, for Jim could no more live without McCoy now than he could capture the sun.</p>
<p>He paced the length of his quarters and then back again, striking the wall each time with the tip of his cane, cursing the pain in his leg, angry all over again that he would never be as fit as he had once been, never be young again, never be the force he had once been.  All he could do was use his brain, and in that he was fortunate, for he was a clever, clever man.  Finally, his body worn out even if his mind was still fizzing endlessly, he sat once more at his desk, and played the comms message again.</p>
<p>Jim’s voice was hurried, and other voices could be heard in the background.  He was clearly trying not to be heard.</p>
<p>“We’re being sent back to Omega now”.  There was a pause and Pike clearly heard McCoy’s voice in the background, telling someone to ‘fuck right off’, and it made Pike smile, as it had made him smile each time he had heard it.  Jim’s voice continued.  “We asked to go ‘cos Bones is sick.  They’ve got a team here now who don’t know shit, but they won’t let us help.  This is so wrong, Admiral, so wrong and we need you to come and help us fix it”.  The message ended abruptly, and the last words Pike heard were the ones that set him on edge all over again.  They belonged to McCoy, and were heard faintly as if his head was turned away.  “Jim, come on they’re here!”  Pike leaned forward, trying to read something into the silence, trying to hear more when there was nothing there.</p>
<p>“I’m coming, son”, he said, his teeth clenched.  “You just hang on”.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>The docking into Omega station was endless.  Pike was his usual crisp and efficient self and if his crew were a little more careful around him than normal, well nobody was going to comment.</p>
<p>Finally, Pike was able to disembark and found Admiral T’Kal waiting for him, tall and expressionless.  Pike, however, wasn’t really in the mood for pleasantries and had to take a deep breath as he began the long and necessary protocols.  “Admiral T’Kal, it’s my pleasure to meet you”.</p>
<p>“Admiral Pike, the pleasure is of course mine”.  He paused.  “I have to admit to some surprise at your visit, and particularly at such short notice”.</p>
<p>“There was obviously a breakdown in communication”, Pike lied smoothly.  “You should certainly have been given more notice.  I hope it doesn’t cause any problems?”</p>
<p>“Of course not”.  T’Kal was as smooth in his turn as Pike.  “We are excited to receive our esteemed guests”.</p>
<p>And it was then that Spock standing just behind the Captain, as was his right, shifted ever so slightly, barely more than a twitch, and Pike knew that T’Kal had just lied.  He nodded and smiled politely, steeling himself for the next hour or so as they went through the - rigmarole.</p>
<p>But T’Kal surprised him.  “We shall of course welcome you with a traditional feast tonight”, he said.  “But alas, we have not had time to prepare it.  Please forgive us”.</p>
<p>Pike felt his shoulders sag in relief.  “Of course”, he said.  “Please, this is all our fault.  We shall be happy to eat with you this evening.  I have communications and orders for you, but perhaps my First Officer could have a meeting with your own deputy?”  He shrugged elegantly.  “Other than the messages I have that are for your eyes only”.</p>
<p>T’Kal bowed.  “A pleasure”.  He bowed again, this time to Spock.  “Mr Spock, your fame precedes you”.</p>
<p>“Admiral”.  Spock was his usual proper self.</p>
<p>Pike had had enough.  “However, Admiral, first of all I must ask the whereabouts of Cadet Kirk and Doctor McCoy.  May I ask that I see them first?”</p>
<p>“Remarkable young men”, T’Kal said with superb Vulcan understatement, and Pike found himself wondering whether this man could really be responsible for a crime.  Vulcans were incapable of crime; it was an illogical act.  He caught himself and nodded his agreement.</p>
<p>After another ten minutes of posturing, Spock and T’Kal’s Secretary, a human called Malone, were off in a corner going through the orders and messages.  T’Kal had called across another Vulcan who was to show Pike to Kirk and McCoy, and he had taken himself back to his own inner sanctum.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>He saw them before they saw him.  They were sitting quietly, Jim’s fizzing energy damped down as he sat next to McCoy.  They were talking quietly, heads together, apparently oblivious to anything going on around them.  The only movement seemed to be Jim’s fingers, moving constantly over the knuckles of McCoy’s hand.  There was something so obviously wrong that once again Pike had that terrible feeling of having missed something, of having exposed them to something that was going to change them or hurt them and he hurried as much as he was able.</p>
<p>Jim had a sixth sense when he was being approached.  He didn’t know it was there, but it came of a childhood of abuse where you learned to recognise every footstep, every creak of a floorboard, and even locked in their own world, that sense heard the footsteps, the familiar shuffle and limp, and the sharp click as a stick impacted with the ground.  He knew that step, knew it was friendly, and he looked up gratefully to see Pike making his way across the open plaza.</p>
<p>“Bones, the cavalry’s here!”  He stood up and pulled Bones to his feet as the Admiral approached him.  Jim had never felt so relieved to see anyone; he needed help here, he needed this to be taken out of his hands.</p>
<p>Pike stopped just in front of them, his eyes raking them both, taking in the changes.  McCoy looked pale and gaunt; he had clearly been ill and quite recently.  Jim was wired and hanging on by a thread.  Pike had initially thought the energy had gone, but now he was closer, he could see it was barely being held in check.  The kid was trembling constantly.</p>
<p>He said the first thing that came into his mind, breaking all protocol.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be okay, son.  You’re not alone anymore”.  He reached out and put a hand on Jim’s shoulder.  “We’re here now”.</p>
<p>“Thank you, sir”.  Jim sagged at the touch.  “Bones has been really sick”.  Pike smiled.  Even with everything else that had been happening, his first thought was for McCoy.</p>
<p>“Doctor?”  Pike turned his attention to McCoy.  He was without doubt, very pale.</p>
<p>“Kid exaggerates as usual”.  But the voice was a poor echo of his normal gruff tone and Pike wasn’t fooled for a second.  This man had been trying hard to pretend there was nothing wrong, because he knew Jim needed him when he was this febrile.</p>
<p>“It is one of his weak points”, Pike said with a smile.  “But you’ve clearly been hit with something, and hit hard.  Do you have quarters?”</p>
<p>“We come out every day because Bones needs to get some strength back”, Jim said.  “He won’t let any of the medics in Omega see him.  The only one he trusts is Vasquez, and he’s out at Homestead”.</p>
<p>“Okay, Cadet, thank you”.  Pike snapped the words, trying to focus Jim again.  The tone seemed to work and Jim straightened up, seeming less - scattered.</p>
<p>“Good”.  Pike nodded at McCoy.  “My CMO will see you today, and you as well,  Cadet Kirk.  You have clearly been living on your nerves.  In the meantime, let’s get you back to your quarters”.  He paused and looked thoughtully at them both.  “No, on second thoughts, let’s not do that. Jim, go and get your belonging together.  Doctor McCoy is coming to the <em>Enterprise</em> and you will come with him.  There’s plenty of room for you”.</p>
<p>“Yes, sir”.  It was McCoy who spoke, and Pike could see how grateful he was.  This man needed rest, and he hadn’t been able to get it here.  He watched as McCoy looked up at Jim.  “Go get the stuff, love, and I’ll see you at the <em>Enterprise</em>”.  He held out his hand which Jim took.  “I’ll be okay now”.</p>
<p>“Yeah”.  Jim nodded.  “I’ll see you there soon”.  With a half sketched salute/nod which was the closest Jim ever came to acknowledgement of seniority, he was gone, running across the open plaza.  McCoy watched him go before turning to Pike.</p>
<p>“Thank you sir”, he said.  “He’s so - frightened - of this place.  He’s worried about me of course, but there’s something here that’s put him so far on edge that he’s going to tip over any day, and I’m not sure what it is.  He keeps saying it smells like Tarsus”.</p>
<p>Pike nodded.  “He looks as much in need of a rest as you.  I suspect he has been keeping himself awake to make sure he’s there if you need him.  He looks very like a man who hasn’t rested for a long time”.  He shook his head.  “You two… Ah well, we’ll get you fixed up and then you can tell me what you think is going on here.  Nobody will be going anywhere”.  He held up a hand.  “And before you speak, yes, we have a full medical team going out to Homestead.  We’ll straighten out whatever has been going on”.   He beckoned.  “Now, come on, you need checking out”.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Jim ran back to their quarters as if the hounds of hell were on his heels.  For the past few weeks, certainly since their return from Homestead, he had felt as if he were going mad, hanging on simply for Bones, who wasn’t really Bones right now.  He wanted out of this godawful place and he wanted out now.  When he had seen Pike, he had just wanted to abrogate all responsibility immediately, just hand it over and be done.  Wanted to be left with Bones/not Bones.  He knew perfectly well he was being weird, but he couldn’t stop it.</p>
<p>The quarters were quiet.  They had a room in a dorm which seemed to be peopled by the living dead, as far as Jim could tell.  He had seen a couple of them but they had looked right through him and even the famous Kirk charm had had no effect, and after a while he had lost the will to try.  So he wasn’t surprised not to see anyone; in fact he was grateful as he ran up the stairs and into their room.  Not really registering anything, he piled their meagre belongings into the holdalls that they had carried across the universe and was back out again within ten minutes.  That sixth sense of his kicked in again as he left the building and he looked around, and although he couldn’t see anybody, he began to trot and then to run as fast as he could, weighed down with their belongings.  He couldn’t shake the sense that he was running away from someone, but he wouldn’t look back.  He had learned that as a child.  Don’t ever look back.</p>
<p>He slowed down eventually to a trot and then to a walk when he saw the <em>Enterprise</em> appear in the distance, towering over the frail looking dock that held her.  Christ, she was beautiful.  She looked as if she were yearning to reach the stars again, rebuilt and refurbished since the <em>Nerada</em>, all that glorious strength just desperate to leave.</p>
<p>“Oh, thank Christ”, he muttered as he made his way towards her.  The first person he saw was Nyota Uhura, and the familiar face made some of the weight slip off his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Uhura!” he called.  “Hey, Uhura!”  She turned and looked for the source of the voice and then raised her hand as she saw him.</p>
<p>“Kirk!  God, we’ve all heard so much about what’s been going on!”  She stepped forward as he approached.  “Trust you two to find something out here.  And typical that we have to come and pick up the pieces!”  Then she saw his eyes and shut up, simply reaching out and putting a hand on his arm.  “Glad you’re okay”, she said softly.  “Glad to see you again”.</p>
<p>“Same here”, Jim said fervently.  “Is Bones here?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know”, Uhura said.  “Is he supposed to be?”</p>
<p>Jim quickly explained, and Uhura nodded.  “Okay, come on and I’ll take you to the med bay”.  She looked at his bags.  “I’ll show you where you can leave those for a little while”.</p>
<p>Jim glanced over his shoulder, uneasy, as he followed Uhura into the ship.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Bones felt - well - boneless.  It felt like forever since he had been so damn comfortable, and he would have been happy to simply lie there forever, floating in a kind of limbo of quiet.  Of course, the quiet meant that something was missing, and he couldn’t quite relax until the quiet wasn’t so - quiet.</p>
<p>On cue the door to the med bay hissed and Bones slitted open his eyes.  “Hey, gorgeous”.</p>
<p>“Hey, big man”.  Jim crossed to the bed and took hold of Bones’ hand, kissing it before smiling and kissing Bones’ cheek.  “You look way more comfortable”.</p>
<p>“Feel way more comfortable”.  Bones tightened his grip and pulled slightly, making Jim smile again and then happily break all the rules by climbing onto the bed next to the patient.</p>
<p>“Gonna get you into trouble”, he whispered, sliding down to lie comfortably beside Bones.</p>
<p>“Don’t care”.  Bones wrapped his arm around Jim and they assumed their usual positions.  “God, kid, I’m glad we’re here, you know?”</p>
<p>“I know”, Jim agreed fervently.  “This last month has just been so unbelievably awful”.  He reached up and scritched at the stubble on Bones’ chin.  “You need a shave”.</p>
<p>“So do you”.  Bones smiled and captured Jim’s hand.  “When I’ve slept for about a fortnight, we can have a shower together”.</p>
<p>“Sounds good”.  Jim felt his own eyes closing as his body finally relaxed.  “You gonna be okay now, Bones?”</p>
<p>“I’m gonna be fine”, Bones assured him.  “I just need sleep, I need sleep without waking up every five minutes thinking somebody is creeping up on us, and I need to sleep knowing that you’re safe”.</p>
<p>“Nobody can get us here”, Jim said confidently, and within five minutes they were both asleep as the stress of the last month melted away.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Admiral Pike walked into the room and stopped, smiling at the sight in front of him.  The two men were curled around each other on McCoy’s bio bed, contravening about a dozen regulations between them, and they looked so damn peaceful that Pike didn’t care.</p>
<p>He watched for a moment longer.  He could see George Kirk in Jim’s face, so clearly.  As the boy grew, he suspected that more of Jim would appear and George would disappear, but he would always be there somewhere as this bundle of nerves and contradictions grew and matured into what Pike knew he could become.  He found that he could hardly wait.</p>
<p>He kept staring and sure enough that sense of Jim’s woke him suddenly, wide-eyed and a little fearful. He spotted Pike and smiled, settling his head back on Bones’ shoulder.</p>
<p>“Need to talk, son”, said Pike softly, and Jim nodded.  “I know”,he said, but didn’t seem to be able to stop his eyes drifting closed.</p>
<p>Pike moved over to the bed and looked down at them.  Jim opened his eyes again and then sat up.  Bones muttered and his hand reached out for him.  Jim captured the wandering hand and Bones settled again.</p>
<p>“He’s looking better already”, said Pike nodding at Bones, and Jim nodded.</p>
<p>“It’s been tough getting any proper sleep, and he got sick on the way out, so he’s been feeling bad for quite a while now.  I’m so glad to see him sleeping”.  Jim kissed Bones’ hand and then held it between both of his own, and Pike shook his head, raising his hand to hide the extremely sappy smile he could feel forming.</p>
<p>“According to my CMO it really is just a nasty virus that he’s having trouble shaking because for some reason he hasn’t been getting any rest or any decent food, and I suspect you’re the same.  Now he’s here, he’ll be up and shouting again in a few days”.  Pike stared at Jim.  “So tell me why you haven’t had proper treatment.  Just what the hell has been going on?  What are you so frightened of?”</p>
<p>Jim opened his mouth to object to the use of that word, but then shut it again with an audible click of teeth and looked down at Bones, reaching out to touch his face.  All the time Pike was aware of that weird, feral brain of his working out what to say.</p>
<p>“There’s something wrong with this whole place”,  he said finally.  “We got back from Homestead - no, even while we were on the transport coming back, so before we even got back, I began to - I can’t put my finger on it, because I was distracted when Bones began to get sick again almost as soon as we were on the transport.  But - my shoulders began to itch”.  He looked up at Pike and took in his nod of encouragement.  “It happens sometimes, when things aren’t right, even if I can’t always work it out, and that began to happen.  So when we got back here, they put us in quarters, and we expected them to be crappy because frankly the whole of Omega is crappy.  Then Bones got sicker so I asked for help because I didn’t know what to do, and they just - Admiral, they wouldn’t even look at him, just said they were busy, and I know damn well they weren’t doing a thing.  So I kicked up a bit of a fuss…”  He smiled at Pike’s raised eyebrow.  “And then Admiral T’Kal told me that if I didn’t, in effect, keep a low profile, then I would regret it.  Sir, I didn’t believe it because, you know, he’s a Vulcan.  He should be above that kind of thing, but he meant it.  Something’s happened to him here, and I don’t know what it is”.  He looked at Bones again.  “And so I didn’t take any notice of him because Bones was sick”.  He paused.  “But one night there was a fire in our quarters.  Just our quarters, and it was concentrated on the electronic gear we had, all the communications gear, all the records… and the next day when I came back from getting us some food, there were two guys in with Bones.  He won’t tell me what they said, but since then, we’ve just kept our heads down, waiting for you.  I don’t know what’s going on here sir, but it’s wrong, and it’s wrong from the top down”.</p>
<p>Pike nodded.  “There’s something wrong, definitely, but I genuinely don’t believe that T’Kal is to blame.  He is a rarity; he’s a Vulcan with absolutely no administrative skills.  He has been completely overwhelmed by what’s expected of him here.  But corrupt?  No, I genuinely don’t believe it.  And more importantly nor does Spock.  No, the problem is elsewhere”.  He nodded at Bones.  “I’ll leave you now; I don’t want to disturb him.  But it’s okay, Jim.  We’ll find out what’s happening and who’s behind it.  You just need to get yourself fit again”.</p>
<p>“In other words, mind your own business”, Jim smiled.</p>
<p>“No, I’m not saying that.  You need to get well, both of you.  Your exile’s over and as soon as we know what’s happening we’ll be on our way back.  There’s going to be a change of power here, no doubt”.  He nodded again and turned to leave.</p>
<p>“Sir, Admiral?”  Jim slid off the bed and approached Pike.  “Thank you”, he said.  “Thank you for coming and not sending someone else who wouldn’t - understand”.  His eyes dropped then.  “It’s been weird and scary with nobody to turn to”.</p>
<p>“I’m sure it has”, answered Pike.  “But forget it now”.  He reached out and put a hand on Jim’s shoulder.  “The Kirks know how to attract attention without even trying.  You’re your father’s son, no question”.</p>
<p>Jim smiled, just a twitch of the lips.</p>
<p>“Go and look after him”, Pike said.  “We’ll get you some quarters arranged”.</p>
<p>Jim stood and watched as Pike left then without turning round said, “You can stop pretending you’re asleep now”.</p>
<p>“I am asleep”.  Bones’ voice was hoarse but tension-free, and Jim smiled to himself.  He turned round then and made his way back to the bed.  </p>
<p>“I love you”, he said, leaning down to kiss Bones, who smiled. </p>
<p>“Course you do”, he responded.  “You’re awkward, but you’ve always had taste”.  He moved his hand so that his ring tapped against the side of the bed and they grinned at each other but didn’t speak.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>“Okay”.  Admiral Pike nodded to Spock to sit down before he continued.  “You’ll have read the report on the meeting with Admiral T’kal.  Do we agree that he’s not the problem?”</p>
<p>“Well, I would argue that he is a problem”, responded Spock, “But perhaps not the problem we are currently dealing with.  He does have much for which to answer”.</p>
<p>“Indeed”, Pike agreed, “but as you say, we need to think about other things first.  Now, I’ve heard from Starfleet and they’re sending out the terror of the galaxy, which is to say the administrators are on their way.  They’re about ten days or so behind us.  Once they come then we’ll probably be relieved and will be sent back to Earth.  We’ll be taking Kirk and McCoy with us”.  He shook his head.  “I never wanted this to happen, and I hate the thought that they have been stuck here, unable to do anything and feeling as if they’ve been abandoned”.</p>
<p>“Surely not?” Spock raised an eyebrow.  </p>
<p>“You need to understand something about these two”, Pike said.  “Kirk is a wild card; he is genius level across the board.  Including paranoia, and he doesn’t take abandonment well”.  He paused.  “I can see what you’re thinking; why is Starfleet even bothering with him?  The answer is that he’ll be a superb captain one day, but right now he needs nurturing, and we made a mistake by sending him here”.</p>
<p>“Are you saying that Cadet Kirk deserves special treatment?”</p>
<p>“No”, Pike said, just catching himself on a snappish tone.  “But we have to be aware of what we have in him.  He’s a boy right now; in ten years, he’ll be the best captain Starfleet ever had”.  He shook his head and smiled to himself.  Yet again, Kirk had managed to worm his way into the centre of a conversation.  That boy was something else.</p>
<p>“However, in this situation, he is secondary”, Pike continued.  “McCoy is the one we want to talk to; he’s the medic, he knows what he saw.  He’s still sick, but hopefully in a day or two he’ll be well enough for us to talk to him properly.  Right now, all we can do is plan, try and work out what’s going on”.  He looked down at the PADD in front of him.  “You’re still certain that T’Kal knows nothing?”</p>
<p>“Absolutely certain”, Spock assured him, and the conviction in his tone was good enough for Pike.  “However, his deputy, the man called Malone, is someone we should look at very carefully.  His body language is very interesting.  He seems to contradict himself on several occasions”.</p>
<p>“We don’t know enough yet to really talk to anybody directly”, Pike mused.  “But I think it may be worth putting out the news that we are going to be looking.  It may spur someone into being a little rash”.</p>
<p>Spock looked momentarily doubtful,but then nodded obediently, and after a moment, the meeting moved on to other topics.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>“Never been so glad to see an authority figure”.  Jim sat beside Bones and handed him the bowl of soup he had just finagled out of the replicator.  “It was like the cavalry coming over the hill in all those old westerns you love to watch”.</p>
<p>“Classics all”, Bones responded, sniffing at the soup before diving in head first.</p>
<p>“Jeez Bones, take a breath”.  Jim laughed.  “Nobody’s gong to steal it”.</p>
<p>“Apart from you, glutton”, Bones said with a smirk.  “It really is good”.</p>
<p>“Is it?”  Jim leaned forward and Bones moved the bowl away.  </p>
<p>“Told you”, he said.  “Glutton”.</p>
<p>“Bastard”.  Jim grinned and leaned further forward and Bones, as he knew would be the case, caved like a house of cards and passed over his spoon for Jim to finish the bowl.</p>
<p>“I could always feed you, my poor unwell darling”, said Jim, smirking, and then laughing outright as Bones cuffed his ear, because that made him believe that maybe things were going to be okay now.  He took a mouthful of soup and then gazed at Bones.  “My god”, he said finally.  “This is - foul”.</p>
<p>“And you fell for it like the sap you are”.  Bones lay back on the pillows, a self-satisfied smile on his face.  “Read you like a book, my friend.  Read you like a book”.</p>
<p>“Damn, you’re good”.  With a horrified glance at the soup, Jim put the bowl on the table beside the bed.  “That stuff - I’m a bit worried about turning my back on it, just in case”.  He looked at Bones and then glanced over his shoulder.  “Did it just move?”</p>
<p>“I love you”.  Bones moved one of his hands and grabbed at Jim’s hair - one of his favourite tricks.  Jim, startled but more than happy, grinned, the proper sunshine grin, and Bones realised that he hadn’t seen that one in too long.  They were getting back to normal now, thank god.</p>
<p>“So, get your hand out of my hair and tell me how much longer you’re going to be in bed.  Which is to say in bed and out of reach”.  Jim pulled away and sat cross legged on the bed, ignoring the fact that it meant he was halfway over Bones’ prone figure.</p>
<p>“Not much longer”, Bones promised.  “I swear, love, all I needed was some real good sleep, not being worried, not always listening, you know?”  He smiled, his eyes beginning to droop closed.  “It feels so good to be comfortable and…”</p>
<p>“Safe?”  Jim suggested the word.  “That’s what you want to say isn’t it?  It’s how I feel”.</p>
<p>“I guess”, Bones agreed.  “We’re going to have to try and work it out soon you know; work out what’s happened”.</p>
<p>“Pike told us to butt out”, Jim said. “In so many words”.  He shrugged and took another glance at the soup.  “And do you know, I think he’s right.  This is going to be political, you know?  And we don’t do politics”.  He shifted his position and settled next to Bones.  “Although we’d be great at politics”.</p>
<p>“Now that’s just an out and out lie”.  Bones wrapped his arm around Jim and they lay comfortably together.</p>
<p>“It’s funny”, said JIm musingly.  “As a kid all I ever knew was insecurity.  I never felt safe.  Then you came along and I kind of forgot, you know?  Forgot about what it feels like.  Now, this that we’ve been going through?  I’ll tell you something, this feels like being a kid again.  Always having to look over your shoulder.  And I don’t want to do that anymore”.</p>
<p>Bones tightened his arm and dropped a kiss on top of Jim’s head but didn’t speak.  Jim rarely spoke about his childhood and Bones had learned long ago that if he ever did start then you didn’t ask questions.  He would say what he wanted, when he wanted.</p>
<p>But he clearly didn’t want to and the two of them fell silent.  Bones felt his eyes begin to close again and he turned onto his side, dragging Jim’s arm with him until they were spooned together.  He felt Jim’s lips against the back of his neck, smiled and fell fast asleep.</p>
<p>When he woke, Jim had gone, presumably to cause trouble somewhere in that unique way he had. He stretched hugely until the muscles in his back creaked and then lay still, staring at the ceiling, checking how he was feeling.  Pretty good, was the answer.  He decided that he would get up soon and start to resume his normal life.  Jim had hung on for as long as he could but all that energy still had nowhere to go, and Bones knew it was time to fix that.  One of his favourite things, although he wouldn’t ever dream of admitting it, was looking after Jim.</p>
<p>On cue, Jim appeared in the doorway, grinning hugely.  “Hey, big man, you were sleeping like a baby so I thought I’d see if I could find Admiral Pike and pester him, but he’s off ship.  I saw Sulu though and he said that there’s another meeting with T’Kal today, a biggie, so there may be proper news today, you know?  We might actually find out what’s going on”.  He threw himself onto the visitor’s chair and put his feet on the bed.  “Hope so.  I’m so bored that I’m going to chew my own arm off soon”.</p>
<p>“I’m getting up”, Bones announced.  “Now.  I’m done with lying about like I’m a 19th century maiden”.  He sat up and put his feet on the ground and then stopped.  “Ah.  But you may have to help me”.</p>
<p>“Not quite the big strong man yet then”.  Jim jumped up and moved round to Bones’ side.  “You sure?”</p>
<p>“Sure”, Bones said.  “I’ve had enough of this.  I want to get moving again, I want to explore this damn ship and I want to spend time with you when I’m not flat out asleep”.</p>
<p>“Thank god”, said Jim fervently, kissing Bones’ cheek. “I’m so bored, I tell you.  So, so bored”. He smiled.  “They won’t let me do anything because I don’t have any status.  Back to being the loony kid”.</p>
<p>“I’m not even going there”.  Bones experimentally shifted his position and then sat back again.  “When I said you’re going to have to help, I don’t mean stand there like a cheering squad.  Let me make use of you”.</p>
<p>“I do that all the time”, said Jim.  His face seemed to be stuck in a grin of delight and Bones realised it was because to him, it felt as if things were getting back to normal.  Once again he was humbled by just how much Jim needed him.  It made him proud and frightened in equal measure.  Hell of a thing, to be responsible for this bundle of - Jimness.  So he settled with rolling his eyes and wrapping his arm around Jim’s shoulders for a bit of support, and between them they got Bones to his feet where he wobbled ferociously until Jim got both arms around his waist to hold him steady.</p>
<p>“Don’t think you’re quite ready yet, big man”, he said, easing him back down on to his bed.  “You’re stronger in your mind than your body”.</p>
<p>“Directly opposite to you, then”.  Bones couldn’t stop the remark before it came out, and Jim snorted a laugh, sitting on the bed as well.</p>
<p>“Another day, maybe”, Jim said, “Just another day and then you can get up”.  He kissed Bones’ shoulder.  “Don’t push it now, love, not when you’re so close to being well again.  I’d hate it if you got sick again.  I want you back”.  He put his arm around Bones and pulled him close for a kiss.  “Sound good?”</p>
<p>“No”, Bones grumped.  “But it does sound logical, which is scary coming from you.  But I get it”.  He kissed Jim again and then again, and before they were aware of what was going on, they were flat on the bed in a tangle of hands, clothes and need.</p>
<p>“Is this a good idea?” Jim managed to get out between kisses.  </p>
<p>“Is the door locked?  That’s all I want to know”.  Bones attempted to twist to get Jim underneath him, that being without doubt his favourite position, and Jim willingly went, but Bones noticed that it was harder work than usual.  He suspected that Jim could have fought that if he had wanted.  He was a lot weaker than he wanted to admit.  But Jim was right; another day would see things right, and until then, well there were worse things than this.  He raised his head and looked down at Jim.  “Actually, strike that”, he said.  “I don’t give a shit if the door’s locked.  You’re not going anywhere”.</p>
<p>Jim reached between their bodies and squeezed, laughing again at Bones’ reaction.  “Well, not going anywhere for about thirty seconds I would say”.  He raised his eyebrows.  “Don’t think this will take long”.</p>
<p>Much to Bones’ annoyed embarrassment, it didn’t.  But neither of them really cared.  It was about regaining that closeness, that intimacy that made them, them.  As they lay together in the messy afterglow, Jim smiled, cupping Bones’ face in both hands.  “Hi”, he said.  “That was nice.  Short, but to the point”.  He reached up for a kiss.  “I have missed you so fucking much.  I don’t do so well when you’re not with me”.</p>
<p>“I’m back now”, Bones said, stroking Jim’s face.  “And you do just fine without me.  Stop putting yourself down all the time”.</p>
<p>“You haven’t seen me outside”, Jim said.  “I’m practically spinning in circles looking for a wall to bounce off”.</p>
<p>“That’s an image I’ll have to work really hard to lose”.  Bones kissed him again, loving having him back where he belonged, loving the simple feel of him.  He decided there and then that if he could have Jim with him in bed all the time then he’d be happy never to leave it.</p>
<p>Jim, as was his way, read Bones’ mind.  “I could stay here forever”, he said.  “Do you think anyone would notice?”</p>
<p>The quiet throat clearing made them both freeze, gazing at each other in horror, before Jim began to grin evilly and Bones closed his eyes.</p>
<p>“It’s okay”, Jim called.  “We’re married”.</p>
<p>“I suspect this is your doing, Cadet Kirk”.  It was a voice that rang a bell in Jim’s head, although he couldn’t immediately place it, and he squirmed until he could see around Bones’ shoulder.  </p>
<p>“Sasha!  Oh, hey!”  He gave Bones a quick kiss and a wink.  “I’ll distract her, big man”.</p>
<p>“Oh, fuck off”.  Bones let himself flop onto his stomach as Jim slid out from under him, pulling the sheets up around his shoulders.</p>
<p>“You sleep, my Bones.  I’ll be back soon”.</p>
<p>Bones was too damn tired and felt too damn comfortable to feel embarrassed any longer.</p>
<p>Jim smiled down at Bones and then turned to Sasha, one of his few friends from the trip out.  He hugged her tight.  “So good to see you again!  What are you doing on the <em>Enterprise</em>?”</p>
<p>“I’m working my passage back”, she replied.  “I decided I didn’t want to work in the ass end of nowhere, doing duty runs.  So I’m going Earthside again, going back to school.  I want to be Chief, but I have to get my qualifications first”.</p>
<p>“That’s great, I’m really pleased”.  Jim smiled.  “You’re too good to be stuck in the boonies”.</p>
<p>“What about you?” Sasha linked her arm through Jim’s and pulled him down the corridor.  Jim gave a fleeting thought to the unpleasant state of his clothes but then dismissed it.  If Sasha hadn’t mentioned it, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to.</p>
<p>“Me?” he said.  “We’re going Earthside as well.  So much shit has happened since I saw you.  Bones got sick … and loads of other stuff”.</p>
<p>Sasha noticed the priority but didn’t mention it.  She had spent enough time with Jim to know how his mind worked.  Or at least some of it.  She suspected nobody knew the whole thing.</p>
<p>“He looked pretty well just then”, she said, trying to keep a straight face, and Jim laughed out loud.</p>
<p>“Oh, he’s getting a lot better”, he said, and Sasha laughed as well.  </p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Pike sat behind his desk, looking at Spock.  “Well?”</p>
<p>“Admiral T’Kal is completely innocent”, Spock declared.  “He is guilty of incompetence, but he has no idea about the drugs trafficking”.</p>
<p>“Agreed”.  Pike sighed.  “I’ve never seen anyone look more appalled when he realised what was going on.  So, is it Malone?”</p>
<p>“Yes”.  The answer was immediate and certain.  “We have to find the evidence, but I can’t believe that will be too much of a challenge.  It may take time, but certainly once the administrators get here, they will complete a full audit.  I feel sure that evidence will be found”.  He paused momentarily. “My concern is that Malone knows we are about to - make a move on him, and does something, perhaps try and get off-planet”.</p>
<p>“We’ll keep an eye out at the ports”, Pike said.  “There’s nothing he can do and nowhere he can run.  This planet doesn’t offer any hiding places.  He’s a big fish in a small pond here; but we know him and we can police him without him realising it”.</p>
<p>“How do we explain the full audit?”</p>
<p>“We don’t have to explain anything to the likes of Malone”, said Pike.  He nodded to himself.  “Another week or so before the terror squad get here.  We’ll start getting the <em>Enterprise</em> ready to leave; we may have to transport Malone and his cronies back to Earth to face trial, so we need to make sure that the brig is secure and that we can handle however many we will need to transport back.  I can’t believe that it’ll just be Malone.  This feels like a bigger operation”.</p>
<p>Spock nodded but didn’t speak and Pike sighed inwardly.  Good as Spock was, Pike sometimes wished he had a First Officer you could actually have a conversation with.  There was still so much he wanted to talk about where Omega was concerned, where Homestead was concerned, but Spock wasn’t the kind of being you could sit down with over a drink or two and just shoot the shit, brainstorm ideas until you found the answer.</p>
<p>He leaned forward, wincing as his double-damned hip twinged again.  “Okay”, he said.  “We’re getting somewhere at least.  Thank you, Mr Spock”.</p>
<p>“Admiral”.  Spock nodded and left Pike with his thoughts.  He picked up the pen he had been scribbling with and wrote MALONE? on the paper in front of him.  He drew lines radiating out of the name like some kind of corona, and at the end of each line he drew a question mark.  How far did this thing go?  Was Malone really the centre of it?</p>
<p>“Fuck”.  The word seemed to echo in the quiet room, and Pike scrubbed his face with his hands.  His CMO was due in a few minutes, and it wouldn’t do for him to be seen wool-gathering.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>When he and Sasha stepped out of the <em>Enterprise</em>, Jim’s shoulders came up around his ears.  What the fuck was this?  Was he turning agoraphobic?  That would complement Bones and his fears perfectly.  Fine couple they would make.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong?”  Sasha had noticed the slight flinch and looked around.</p>
<p>“Nothing. Just - really don’t like this place, you know?  Part of me just wants to stay on the ship and not leave it until we get back to Earth”.  He shook his head.  “I’m just being weird, ignore me.  It’s ‘cos Bones is sick”.</p>
<p>“What?  You’re saying that you go weird when he’s not here?”</p>
<p>“Weirder”, corrected Jim.  “It’s pretty widely accepted that I go a bit - off the rails - sometimes.  He’s good at bringing me back down”.</p>
<p>“I’ve been here long enough to hear some of the stuff you’ve done.  I heard about what happened to you when the <em>Nerada</em> - happened”.</p>
<p>“I don’t talk about that”, said Jim immediately.  “Not because I’m particularly ashamed about what I did; just because I can’t think about what could have happened to Bones”.</p>
<p>“You two are so gone on each other”, Sasha said thoughtfully.  “When we first met, I thought you were just some quiet kid, couldn’t work out why you’d been exiled.  Then I saw you with him and - the sun came out.  You changed”.</p>
<p>Jim shrugged but didn’t answer.  He was getting a bit tired of having to justify himself to other people.  He looked around but couldn’t see anything or anybody and decided he was just being paranoid.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>
  <em>He knew they were closing in.  Oh, they hadn’t spoken to him yet but he knew they were coming.  His supply lines had dried up and his customers were hiding.  These fuckers were going to ruin him, and he had to deal with it.  One more under the radar run, maybe two, would set him up for the rest of his life, and then he’d run.  Find a little asshole of an outpost and keep his head down for a little while, and then start living it large.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>It was that fucking doctor and that little maniac of a boyfriend of his.  Oh, that was wrong.  <b>Husband</b>.  They were <b>married</b>.  Made him sick.  Fucking unnatural, as far as he was concerned.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>If he could shut the doctor’s mouth for him then he would be able to make his run.  He needed a way of dealing with McCoy, but he was too much of a name, and anyway he’d been sick and so there were too many people keeping too close an eye on him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>But the mad little bastard who claimed to be married to him?  That was an entirely different story.  Nobody gave a shit about what he did all day.  He had heard stories that he was Admiral Pike’s pet, but he hadn’t seen any proof of it.  So take the little bastard and use him as leverage.  That was the way to go.  But where?  And how?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He sighed.  He was going to have to think about this, but he could feel a plan beginning to take shape.  That loony kid was the answer.  He just had to work out the right way to ask the question.</em>
</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Jim woke up slowly, aware first of the pounding in his head and then the dryness in his mouth.  He tried to lick his lips but there was no moisture there.  The next thing he did was force open his eyes, although they were gummy and would clearly rather stay closed.  He thought initially that he hadn’t opened them because it was still so dark.  He blinked, sticky lids feeling gritty against dry eyes and raised a hand, rubbing at his face.  Nope, eyes were definitely open.</p>
<p>“Well… shit”.  His voice was creaky.  His mind was clearing, albeit slowly and he tried to take in where he was and what had happened.  He moved his legs and felt a heaviness on one of his ankles just as he heard the dull sound of a chain dragging along the ground.</p>
<p>“Oh no”, he said.  “Nononononono….”  He sat up and banged his head hard enough to see stars.  He put his hands first to his head and then above him to try and work out what had happened.  It felt like wood - old wood, as strong as iron, and in rising panic, his breathing loud and rapid, he put his hands out to either side.  One hand hit a wall, but the other one flailed in the air and he offered up brief thanks.  He had imagined a coffin, but actually it simply seemed he had hit a beam.</p>
<p>Now that his eyes were adjusting, he realised that he wasn’t in total darkness - there were thin bands of sunlight creeping through gaps between the planks.</p>
<p>Okay, he wasn’t gong to suffocate.  He took a breath, and then another, trying to keep them slow, consciously counting beats between them and slowly the light-headedness began to fade.</p>
<p>“Okay”, he said out loud. “Okay”.  He sat up again, more carefully this time, one hand above his head.  He slid off the bed and onto his ass, and felt the manacle around his ankle.  He found the chain and pulled it to find out how long it was.  Plenty, seemed to be the answer, which was a relief.</p>
<p>Then he realised that he was bare-ass naked.  “Oh, you are so fucking kidding”, he said.  “Really?”  He pulled angrily at the chain, straining against it, shuffling until he could brace his legs against the wall on either side of it, heaving as hard as he could.  It didn’t so much as budge and he let the chain drop, breathing hard.</p>
<p>“Shit”.  He took a breath as the dizziness began to return.  Okay, whoever this was had decided to try and humiliate him by taking his clothes.  Fine.  Okay.  Okay.  The one thing he had never suffered from was shame about his body.  If ‘they’ - whoever ‘they’ were - wanted an eyeful, let them have one.  He’d get his revenge.</p>
<p>“Fuckers”, he muttered, getting onto all fours.  The ceiling of whatever it was he was in was low, but he could stand if necessary, but right at the moment, floor level was best so that he could explore the space properly.</p>
<p>With one hand in front of him, he felt his way around his cell.  His nose wrinkled as he found a bucket with a lid, its use horribly clear to judge by the chemical smell.  He flailed a little further and knocked over a bottle - possibly more than one.  He picked one up and felt around it.  Sealed.  So probably water.  And safe to drink.  There were perhaps half a dozen which then made him wonder how long he was going to be here.</p>
<p>He crawled further and made his way to where there was a vague door-shape, and felt his way around it.  There was a sturdy and old-fashioned padlock holding it shut.</p>
<p>“Okay”, he said again and sat down, his back pressed against the wood.  He raised his hand in his new habitual gesture to tap his ring against his teeth.</p>
<p>There was no ring.  It had been taken.  For a moment his mind went completely blank, and then he flipped back onto his knees and, grabbing hold of the padlock he began to heave and pull at it, all the while screaming at the top of his voice, gone beyond rage and into something else entirely.</p>
<p>“You fucking, cunting bastards!  Is there someone getting off on this?  I’ll rip your fucking heart out, you motherfucking bastards!”</p>
<p>He didn’t stop until he had run out of breath and invective, his throat hoarse, his fingers bleeding.</p>
<p>“I will rip your fucking heart out”, he said, more quietly, sitting back on his heels and dropping his face into his hands.</p>
<p>__ </p>
<p>“Where is he?”  Bones looked from Pike to the medbay door, as if expecting Jim to walk through it at any moment.  “I haven’t seen him all day and now you suddenly appear.  Have you got something to tell me?  Is he okay?”</p>
<p>“Doctor”, Pike interrupted, and although Bones stopped speaking, it was fairly obvious that he hadn’t yet started listening.  He was looking everywhere as if he thought Jim was hiding in a cupboard, or under the bed.</p>
<p>“He should be here”, he said.</p>
<p>“Doctor, be quiet”.  Pike put all his authority into his voice and Bones’ eyes finally snapped to him.</p>
<p>“Admiral.  What’s happened?”</p>
<p>“He’s - been taken”.  Pike said softly, the words being forced through a throat that was suddenly tight.</p>
<p>“Taken where?”  Bones’ mind had stopped working and he felt as if he were speaking through a fog.  “What do you mean, taken?”</p>
<p>Pike shifted his weight and gestured towards the visitor’s chair.  “May I?”  Bones nodded automatically and Pike said down with a grunt.</p>
<p>“There’s a note”, Pike said.  “It’s tied in with everything, all the way back to Homestead and what you and Kirk discovered”.</p>
<p>“What does this note say?”  Bones pushed the sheets down as if he were about to stand up but then he pulled them back up again.  He wanted to be angry, that seemed the correct response, but the anger wasn’t there. It was just a vast numbness.  He held out a hand.  “Where’s the note?”</p>
<p>“No, you can’t see it”, Pike said, shaking his head, and that lit a spark in Bones’ chest.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry?”  He looked at Pike, aghast.  “What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“I don’t want you reading it”, Pike said bluntly.</p>
<p>“What?  What am I, twelve?”</p>
<p>“Doctor McCoy”, Pike snapped.  “I said you are not to read it, and I would appreciate it if you would accept that”.</p>
<p>“No”, snapped Bones.  “Something has happened to Jim - to my Jim - and you think I should what?  Be spared details?”  He pushed the sheets down again and this time swung his legs out of the bed.  “I’m a grown man and a doctor.  I think I can handle it”.</p>
<p>“Don’t be simple”, snapped Pike.  “I don’t even have the message.  It came on old-fashioned paper and so is impossible to trace in the normal fashion.  At the moment it’s being pulled apart fibre by fibre to trace the sender”.  Pike paused.  “We think it’s Malone - T’kal’s deputy”.</p>
<p>“What?”  Bones’ anger was beginning to burn at last.  “So where’s Malone?”</p>
<p>“He left Omega yesterday”.</p>
<p>“For where?”  Bones was shouting now.  “He has Jim.  If he hurts Jim, I will kill him.  I will rip him apart”.  He pushed himself out of bed and although he wobbled, this time he stayed upright.  “At least have the decency to tell me what it said”.</p>
<p>“That he’s safe and alive, and will stay that way unless you come forward and say what you saw in Homestead, what you found out”.  Pike sighed.  “Basically, keep your mouth shut until the audit is over, and he’ll be safe”.</p>
<p>Bones shook his head.  “I’m sorry?  You’re saying he’s going to be held somewhere until they’ve gone?  They’re not even arriving for another week, and then they’ll be here for at least a month”.  He swallowed hard.  “So six weeks?  Even if I was willing to be keep quiet, which you know damn well isn’t going to happen, my Jim is in real danger, someone has him, and how the fuck do you think he’s going to be handling that?”</p>
<p>“Doctor”, Pike stood up and suddenly the affable commander with the tired eyes and the ruined hip had gone.  Christopher Pike, Admdiral of the Fleet, stood in front of him, and even Bones was struck dumb.</p>
<p>“Doctor, do you hear yourself?  Do you hear the sheer stupidity of what you are saying?  Of course you’ll  give evidence because we’ll find him.  And do not for one second presume to tell me anything about Jim Kirk.  That boy is about as dear to me as it’s possible to be, and I will take this planet apart with my bare hands to find him.  But do not - not ever - try and tell me what to do.  Are we clear?”</p>
<p>Bones blinked, the anger settling into something like a simmer rather than a white hot rage.  He had to keep that simmer going, because otherwise he would throw back his head and howl at the sky.</p>
<p>“Where do we start?” he said finally, sitting on the bed again.  “We have to find him”.  He had to bite down damn hard because he could feel foolish tears starting.  He cursed his weakness, this ridiculous illness.  His hands curled into fists.  He needed to do something.</p>
<p>“We’ve already started looking”, Pike forestalled him.  “We’ll find him”.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Jim lay on the bed and watched as the light shifted and changed.  His mind was working at about a million miles an hour, but he didn’t have enough data to work with.  The silence outside had unnerved him to start with, but as the day had gone on he had stopped noticing, trapped inside his head, thoughts spinning and colliding, ricocheting off each other.  All he knew was that he had to get out of this place and get back to Bones.</p>
<p>“Bones”.  The word came out embarrassingly close to a whimper, and he put his hand up to his mouth, forgetting about the absence of the ring, and becoming angry all over again.  He tried to keep calm, tried to hear Bones, hear what he would say, but he just kept hearing, <em>Dear God, Jim, what what you done?</em>  And it made him laugh with a sound that was close to desperation.</p>
<p>“Come get me Bones”, he said.  “I’ll do what I can this end, but I think I need your help”.  He froze, ears straining.  He had heard something, just the slightest noise.  He propped himself up on his elbows and stared into the dark.  But it faded away, if it had ever been there.</p>
<p>He lay down again and shivered.  It was going to get cold.  He curled himself into a ball and closed his eyes.  He had to sleep, had to stay fresh.  Tomorrow he would begin an exercise routine so he could stay strong.  That way, when his chance came, he would be able to take down whoever had done this to him.</p>
<p>He pressed his ring finger against his mouth and sighed.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Bones slept that night, but only because he had been given a sedative after an afternoon of full on ranting and fury.  The simmering of earlier had vanished in the face of, as far as he could see, absolute inaction on the part of everybody around him.</p>
<p>When he woke, slightly fuzzy around the edges, his first thought was of Jim.</p>
<p>“How are you doing, kid?” he whispered, ring against his lips.  “You hang on in there, because I’m coming to get you”.</p>
<p>He sat up and got out of bed.  He was absolutely done with lying about.  There was work to do and whilst he wasn’t quite up to action hero standards, nobody was doing anything.  So it was clearly up to him.</p>
<p>He had got as far as having a shower and dressing before Spock appeared in the doorway.</p>
<p>“Doctor McCoy”, Spock said, standing ramrod straight, hands behind his back.</p>
<p>“Mr Spock”.  Bones faced the Vulcan.  “Have you done anything to find him yet?”</p>
<p>“I have in fact been working all night, Doctor McCoy”, replied Spock.  “And I feel I have made progress”.</p>
<p>“Really?”  Bones took a step forward.  “What?  What have you found?”</p>
<p>“Mr Malone is quite well known here”, began Spock.  “We have spent the night following up on some leads”.  He raised an elegant eyebrow.  “Where drugs are concerned, there will always be people who will betray others for certain rewards.  Your Cadet Kirk is popular amongst the <em>Enterprise</em> crew.  They want to help.  They were willing to spend the night tracking down any - acquaintances - of Mr Malone”.  He paused.  “Admiral Pike has asked to see you”.</p>
<p>“Why?  What’s happening?  They worked hard.  I’m grateful, but what’s happening?”</p>
<p>“Admiral Pike would like to see you”.</p>
<p>“For god’s sake!” Bones exploded.  “Just fucking tell me!”</p>
<p>Spock stood politely aside and Bones stormed out, the fury sparking again.  He got to the Admiral’s office ahead of Spock, the walk having taken more out of him than he would admit.  Pike was waiting for him.</p>
<p>“Doctor”, he said.  “I’m glad to see you up and about.  You need to pack for a week or so.  We’re going to Homestead”.</p>
<p>“What?”  Bones sat down.  “What?”</p>
<p>“Malone has been seen heading towards Homestead.  His customers aren’t particularly loyal”.</p>
<p>“It takes two days to get there”.  Bones tried to get his thoughts in some kind of order.  “How - how has…?”</p>
<p>“It takes two days on crappy transports”, corrected Pike.  “However, we’ll be using one of the shuttles from the <em>Enterprise</em>.  We’ll be there in half the time.  If Malone is heading that way, then we’ll arrive together”.</p>
<p>“But what’s he doing there?”</p>
<p>“It’s a good place to hide”, Spock said from behind Bones.  “It’s known to be a place where sickness is rife.  Nobody will go there voluntarily”.</p>
<p>“He could have Jim with him”, said Bones, then shook his head.  “No he couldn’t, how could he?  It’s not like he’s hand luggage”.  He raised his hand to his mouth, worrying at the ring on his finger.  “We could be going away from him,not towards him”.  He scrubbed his hands over his face.  “He’s out there somewhere, and I don’t know if he’s even alive.  He could by lying dead in a ditch”.</p>
<p>Jim’s comments about how he had felt when Bones was missing during the <em>Nerada</em> incident ran through his mind.  That airlock would do if anything had happened, because Bones for sure wouldn’t be hanging around without Jim.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Jim woke from an uneasy sleep as the temperature began to rise.</p>
<p>“Not a dream then”, he croaked.  He rolled off the bed and crawled over to make use of the bucket before finding the bottled water.  He wanted to tip one of the bottles over his head to try and rinse the grime off, but he had no idea how long he was going to have to last.  So he swilled his mouth, scrubbing at his teeth and then took a long drink.</p>
<p>As he put the bottle down, something in the way the light moved and caught attracted his attention, so after carefully sealing the bottle and putting it down he crawled over and began to run his hands over the wood.</p>
<p>Jim Kirk was no fool.  And this wasn’t the first time he had been locked in a room with no food.  And at least he had water.  The thing that made the difference this time round was that he had something to live for.  And Bones would kill him if he rolled over and gave up.</p>
<p>And because he was no fool and because Bones loved him, Jim Kirk crawled on his hands and knees to a door made from wood that was harder than iron and began to run his fingertips over every inch, trying to find a weakness.  There was always a weakness.  The light had showed him something and he had to find it.</p>
<p>His questing fingers found a kind of flap set into the bottom of the main door.  He hoped that was where food would be delivered, and soon.  He tried every which way he could but he couldn’t get the flap open.</p>
<p>“Doesn’t matter”, he grunted.  “What are you planning on doing?  Crawling through it?”  What he did manage to do was break off a piece of the wood, which he nursed gently as it came free.  He ended up with a sizeable splinter of lethally sharp wood, which he put under the thin mattress.</p>
<p>Then he began another search, as methodical as the one of the door,  his fingertips brushing every inch of the cell walls.  It was only gradually that he began to realise he was talking, ostensibly to himself, but more likely to Bones.  Because he had to believe that Bones was coming for him.</p>
<p>“Got to be something”, he said.  “No such thing as perfect, ‘cept me, obviously.  You think I’m perfect.  But I really bug you, so you have a weird idea of perfect”.</p>
<p>He paused, sitting back.  “Come get me, Bones.  I know you will.  I just have to make sure I don’t fall apart.  Because I tell you now, I’m really fucking close to snapping”. He took a deep and somewhat shaky breath and then got back to his fingertip search.</p>
<p>He was digging experimentally at a corner when there was a new noise that he couldn’t place and a sudden change in the light.  It took him a few seconds to realise that the noise was the flap in the door opening.  He launched himself across the cell and managed to get his fingers to it just before it slammed shut, but he couldn’t get a grip and was unable to stop it closing.</p>
<p>“Motherfucker!” he screamed, so loudly his throat felt immediately shredded.  “I’m gonna rip your fucking face off!  You are going to so fucking regret touching me!”  He kicked at the door and was so angry that he didn’t realise until later that at that moment he managed to break two of his toes.</p>
<p>Furious and frustrated he clawed again at the door, trying to find the hinges, the weak spot that he knew must exist, but there was nothing.</p>
<p>“Fucking bastard”.  He sat back again, breathing hard, and jumped when his hand hit something that hadn’t been there before.  It was a small bag which on exploration contained half a loaf of bread, some cheese and a couple of pieces of fruit.  Jim was far too wound up to eat and he hurled the bag away from him.</p>
<p>“Asshole!” he screamed again.  “I’m fucking allergic to gluten and I fucking hate cheese!”  And then he heard what he had just said and snorted out a hysterical laugh.  “You could at least have checked my dietary needs!”  Then he bit hard on the inside of his cheek and went back to his exploration.  Anything to keep busy.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>“Doctor, we are offering this to you as a courtesy”, said Pike, his teeth gritted.  “We can leave you here if you like”.</p>
<p>“All I’m saying is that I want to talk to the snitch who told you Malone was on his way to Homestead”.</p>
<p>Bones sat in Pike’s office, a clearly immovable object.  He had even folded his arms which meant, as Jim could have told anyone who cared to listen, that he wasn’t going anywhere, so you may as well just give in.</p>
<p>“Even if I were to allow it, do you really believe that the authorities here on Omega would permit you to see them?”</p>
<p>“I think the authorities here are so damn embarrassed by what’s happened that they’d let you do anything”.  He leaned forward and Pike caught sight of the sheer desperation in those dark eyes.  “Malone has done this to make sure I don’t talk.  Malone can fuck himself.  If he thinks either Jim or I can be intimidated then he has a lot to learn.  Now, I want to see the snitch.  Surely it’s better to be an hour behind schedule than to be there and discover you’re in entirely the wrong place?”</p>
<p>Pike leaned forward, echoing McCoy’s posture.  He couldn’t tell what McCoy was thinking, but he could see the desperation and the fear, and yet McCoy was refusing to give in.</p>
<p>“And what if you put Jim in danger by doing this?  Have you considered that?”</p>
<p>Bones simply looked at the Admiral for what seemed to be a long time before saying very carefully, “Have I considered it?  Sir, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard a sentient being say.  If anything happens to him I will find every single person responsible and I will make them pay and then I will get on my knees and beg him to forgive me”.  He paused and covered his mouth with his hand, then glanced over his shoulder at Spock.  “Why not use the mind meld?  Surely that would work?”</p>
<p>“Only so far”, Spock replied.  “The person we have knows Malone was heading for Homestead, but knows nothing of the whereabouts of Cadet Kirk.  And the mind of a drug addict is a place of disorder.”</p>
<p>“McCoy, we have to go if we have any chance of finding Malone before he disappears”, snapped Pike.  “Now, we can sit here talking about it until we all disappear up our own backsides or we can get on that damn shuttle.  Nothing you can do is going to give us any more information.  So are you coming?”</p>
<p>Bones nodded and ran a hand over his face, praying he was doing the right thing.  He was terrified at the thought that he was perhaps moving away from Jim rather than towards him - if that turned out to be the case he would have one hell of a hard time forgiving himself.  He could picture Jim’s reaction: he would shrug his shoulders and smile that sunshine grin and say <em>Not a problem, my Bones.  50/50 chance, love</em>.  And Bones would shrivel and die.  </p>
<p>He would not let that happen.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Jim could no longer pretend to be busy.  As the day progressed, he curled himself into a ball on the floor by the door and simply stared into the gloom.  He didn’t even want to think.  He wanted to be at home - wherever home was - with Bones.  He wanted to be chin deep in a hot tub, Bones telling him off for being so stupid as to get himself into this situation. Whilst washing his back for him, tracing all his scars and putting things right in the way that only Bones could.  He dozed for a while then, because there was nothing else to do.  You couldn’t stay in a state of high emotion forever, he had discovered, not even when you were Jim Kirk.</p>
<p>He remembered this happening to him before, when he was a kid.  One of Frank’s favourite things was to kick hell out of him and then boot him down the steps into the cellar where he would sit, sometimes for an hour, sometimes for longer, but always in the back of his head the fear that this would be the time that Frank decided to leave him there.  But this wasn’t Frank, and there were people out there now who cared about him.  And he would help himself if he could, but he just didn’t know how.  Not right now.</p>
<p>He was lost in a daydream when suddenly there was a rattle of the padlock being unlocked.  Jim sat up and pulled himself against the wall, waiting to see what was going to happen, looking for an opening.</p>
<p>When the door opened, he screwed up his eyes and threw up a hand to shield them from the sudden glare.  He could just make out a shadow in the door and he blinked furiously to try and adjust to the brightness.</p>
<p>“Stay right where you are”.  The voice rang a bell somewhere in the back of Jim’s mind.  “I have a weapon pointed right at you and if you twitch an eyelash I will happily shoot you”.</p>
<p>Jim didn’t speak, his mind working hard to put a name to the voice.  It was there, just on the edge of awareness but he couldn’t quite … then the figure stepped into the shadow and Jim said, very simply, “Oh, you cunt”.</p>
<p>“Hello again, Cadet”.  Evans, the Ensign from the Homestead shuttle, moved slowly into the cell and looked at Jim with such contempt that Jim was for a second, quite astounded.  Very slowly, very carefully, he pushed himself to his feet.  Evans’ eyes travelled down Jim’s body and slowly back up to meet his eyes, a smirk on his face.</p>
<p>“Enjoy the view?” Jim said.  “Enjoy taking them off me?  Get a little bit of a hard on there, did we?  Fancy your luck with me?”  He folded his arms and shifted his position, deliberately flaunting himself.  He could hear Bones laughing uproariously in the background. </p>
<p>“I’ve seen prettier garbage fires”, Evans said.  Keeping his eyes on Jim, he bent down and picked up the bucket with the lid, and Jim smiled.</p>
<p>“Oh, you’re the shit shoveller”, he said.  “Christ, could you get any lower?  Suppose you could wipe my ass”.</p>
<p>Evans moved back towards the door and put the bucket just outside.  He brought in another and then went out again, bringing in more water.</p>
<p>“I’m going to kill you”, Jim said casually.  “When I decide the time’s right, I’m going to rip your face off”.</p>
<p>“Really?”  Evans looked at him.  “Really?  I’m the one with key to the door, and I’m the one who can control whether you live or die.  I could leave you here, Kirk, and nobody will ever find you”.</p>
<p>“Doctor McCoy will”, Jim said.  “And then he’ll find you”.  He tilted his head.  “You remember Doctor McCoy, don’t you?  And he’ll make you suffer for whatever remains of your sad little life”.  He shifted again, taking a step along the wall.  “You a courier, Evans?  You carry drugs?  Were you supplying those two on the shuttle?”  He thought of Rickson, the girl who wanted to see the universe and live a different life.  He hoped that she was okay and not under Evans’ influence.</p>
<p>His mind was working at a ridiculous pace as if it was grateful to have more information so that it could start piecing everything together.</p>
<p>“Oldest story in the world”, he said as Evans moved back towards the door.  “Keep the doctor quiet by kidnapping the husband, right?  Problem is, trying to keep him quiet is next to impossible.  Only way I ever found to do it was by sticking my tongue in his mouth”.  He laughed in genuine amusement at the expression on Evans’ face, and the smile stayed there long after Evans had locked him in and gone away.  He went across and found a bottle of water, opening it and taking a long drink.  Then he held it up in a silent toast to - something.  “Got you”, he said softly. “Next time you’re here, sunshine, your ass is mine”.  He tilted his head back and looked into the gloom.  “I’m on fucking Homestead.  That’s what’s been making my brain itch.  It’s that smell again.  See Bones, as soon as that door opened I got a nose full of Tarsus and now I understand.  I’m such a damn genius.  Although, fair point, I did get kidnapped like some kind of dweeb”.</p>
<p>He felt better.  Ridiculous.  He was still stuck, still trapped.  But his mind had information and could start to work.  He sat on the bed and closed his eyes.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>The shuttle landed at Omega about an hour ahead of Malone.  Pike had ordered his crew to search for the other shuttle, checking the passenger list and when, unsurprisingly, Malone’s name hadn’t appeared, contacting the shuttle for an eyes-on check.  And they had found him.</p>
<p>Bones glanced around the shuttle, taking in all the familiar faces from the <em>Enterprise</em>.  Pike had told him that almost the entire crew had wanted to come and help find Jim, and Bones knew he should be grateful for that, but he wasn’t.  His mind was too full of Jim, of what could be happening to him.  They hadn’t had enough time.  Their lives had been one long crisis, and it wasn’t fair if Jim was taken away from him before they had time to make a proper life together.</p>
<p>
  <em>When we’re done with this, love, we’re going to make a life together.  And we’re not reeling about like this.  We’re actually going to be together properly.  Just hang on until I find you.</em>
</p>
<p>“Doctor McCoy?”  Bones looked up, surprised.  Of everybody on the shuttle, the last person he would have expected to speak to him was Spock.  There was an antagonism between them that was unspoken but very much there.</p>
<p>“Mr Spock”.  Bones simply looked at him.  It’s not as if he wanted to talk to Spock, or indeed anyone.</p>
<p>“We’re ready to disembark if you’re ready.  Mr Malone is in custody”.</p>
<p>Bones stood up.  “Let me see him.  This time, you let me damn well see him”.  Spock opened his mouth.  “No.  I will not be denied this time.  I want to see him”.</p>
<p>“Are you causing problems again, Doctor McCoy?”  Pike appeared beside his First Officer.</p>
<p>“No, sir I’m not”, Bones replied.  “But I want to see Malone”.</p>
<p>“I think that’s a bad idea, but I also understand that you’re not going to back down.  If you do see him, you see him with a chaperone.  I’m not letting you be in a room alone with him”.</p>
<p>“That’s fine”, Bones said.  “I don’t care.  I just want to see him”.</p>
<p>“Admiral, Doctor McCoy, I have to express my uneasiness with this”, said Spock, eyes darting from one man to the other.  “I do not believe any good can come of this”.</p>
<p>“Just wait and see”, said Bones, then nodded at Pike.  “When can I see him?”</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Ozzy Malone sat in a holding cell and simply stared ahead of him.  The guard told Bones and Spock that he had been sitting in that same position ever since he had been brought in.  Bones in his turn simply stood there and looked at him, his arms folded, his face an absolute picture of scorn.  He stood there so long that his sheer stillness finally pulled Malone’s focus out of wherever it had been and he looked at the human statue in front of him.</p>
<p>“Hi”, said Bones when he had caught Malone’s gaze. “So your day has just got a whole lot worse”.</p>
<p>Malone didn’t speak for a moment, and then, his lip curling in a perfect sneer, said, “And who the fuck are you?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I think you know who I am, my friend”.  Bones still hadn’t moved.  “And I want a word with you.  What do you think?  Just you and me together, having a friendly chat?”</p>
<p>“Well, in normal circumstances I would love that…”</p>
<p>“Ah, but you’re not going to know anything normal for the rest of your sad, sicko little life”, Bones interrupted.  “So to make things a little bit easier for yourself, you need to tell me what you did with Jim”.</p>
<p>“And who would Jim be?”  Malone finally moved.  He leaned back, not breaking eye contact.  He saw the other man - clearly the precious Doctor McCoy - flinch slightly and it made him smile.  And that was the last thing he should have done.  Bones reached out and deactivated the energy field, stepping into the cell.</p>
<p>“Okay, it’s open now”, he said, gesturing behind himself.  “You could get out.  If you can get past me.  Want to try?”</p>
<p>“Doctor…”  Spock said warningly, but McCoy simply shook his head slightly as if he were being annoyed by a gnat.</p>
<p>“Come on, big man”, he said.  “Try it”.</p>
<p>Malone shrugged as coolly as he could, but there was something in that gaze that was - worrying.  “What exactly do you want?” he said finally.</p>
<p>“I think you know”.  McCoy took a step forward.  He hadn’t done anything threatening, yet Malone was very definitely intimidated.  There was something about McCoy that said ‘don’t mess with me’.  </p>
<p>“I heard about you”, he said finally, trying to stop his backward slide.  “All loved up.  Heard about the way you behaved in Homestead, controlling the crew out there.  And all the time that little fucking - weasel - was by your side, whining about shit that he didn’t understand and had no reason to mention.  And you just fucking petted him and told him that he was great and how he could do everything.  Fucking pathetic”.</p>
<p>“And that’s why you took him?” McCoy asked.  “Because you don’t like weasels?”  He shifted another step forward.  “You took him to keep me quiet, you absolute shithead.  You took him because you thought I would be so distraught and so desperate for him to be safe that I’d do whatever you asked me to.  Whatever you demanded of me.  Would that be about right?”  He sneered then, a full-on sneer with a lifetime’s worth of anger behind it.  “Then you don’t know either of us, because that will never happen.  I will stand up and shout from the rooftops what I saw and what I know, and if that helps convict you, then I’ve done the right thing”.</p>
<p>“And if it means your little pet is going to be found dead, what then?”  As soon as he said it, Malone regretted it.  He saw the switch go in McCoy’s brain, and it was only the fact that Spock could move so quickly that saved him.  He flinched back as far as he could and smacked his head against the wall.  By the time he had focused on what was happening, Spock had pulled McCoy out of the cell and reactivated the energy field.  Only Spock had remained inside.</p>
<p>“Mr Malone”, he said.  “I do not do this lightly, and I rarely do it without permission, but time is short and you have information we need”.</p>
<p>Malone had heard that Vulcans were incredibly strong, but he had never experienced it until that moment, when a strong arm across his chest held him in place and a hand was pressed against his temple.  The sensation that followed was without description - it just felt strange, as if someone else was sharing his brain, recalling things he had forgotten and digging out the things he had no wish to admit.  He was completely helpless in the face of it.  When it was over he felt empty and utterly exposed.  He looked into Spock’s eyes, dark and unreadable and then noticed a small quirk of the lips and he remembered that he had heard Spock was half human.  “Got you, Mr Malone”, said Spock, and confirmed everything Malone had heard.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>“Doctor McCoy, do you remember an Ensign by the name of Evans?  He travelled with you out to Homestead”.  Spock led Bones away from the cell.</p>
<p>“Yes, I remember him.  He was okay.  What about him?  What did you do in there?”</p>
<p>“Mr Evans has Cadet Kirk”, said Spock very simply. “That is the reason we have been unable to work out the timeline.  Mr Evans took him, not Mr Malone”.</p>
<p>“How?  Where?”  Bones stopped dead and turned to face Spock.  “Where is he?  Is he safe?”</p>
<p>“As far as Mr Malone knows, yes he is.  Mr Evans has taken him towards Homestead, as we suspected.  He is in - he is in a bunker”.</p>
<p>“A bunker?”  Bones’ mind was blank.  “What do you mean, a bunker?”</p>
<p>“I assume you know what a bunker is, Doctor?”</p>
<p>“Of course I do”, he snapped.  “Where is he?  Where exactly?  How dare they keep him like that?  He’ll be screaming and scraping at the walls by now.  Don’t they understand what they’ve done?”</p>
<p>“They do not care, Doctor McCoy”, said Spock simply.  “They do not care how the Cadet feels or what it does to him mentally”.</p>
<p>Bones put his head in his hands.  “This is ridiculous, it’s too much.  I - I have to find him”.</p>
<p>“And we will”, said Spock.  “I must report to Admiral Pike, but we will find him very soon”.</p>
<p>Bones watched Spock march down the corridor and then turned in a full circle, utterly unsure of what he wanted to do.  Or rather, what he should do.  He leaned against the wall and once again put his hands over his face.  So angry.  So damn angry, and no way of directing it.  He wanted to go back to Malone and rip him apart, wanted to head straight for Homestead - a fucking <em>bunker</em> - and most of all, he just wanted to run away with Jim, away from the stupid, sordid situation.  Fucking <em>Evans</em>.  Bones couldn’t even get an idea to form in his head.  He was tired, the virus still lingering in his system; and he was desperately worried about Jim.  The only thing that was keeping him going was his anger.  <em>We can both collapse when all this is over, love</em>, he thought.  <em>With luck, on a deserted beach somewhere.  Just us and a tumbler of cocktails.</em></p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Jim had absolutely lost track of time.  He was starting to feel weird and when he wiped at his forehead it came away sweaty.  “No, really, that’s just marvellous”, he said aloud.  “Because what I need right now is to get sick.  Any more little jokes up your sleeve?”  He turned over on the damp mattress, wrinkling his nose at the smell of sweat that hit his nostrils.  “If nothing else I should be able to attract attention just with my stink”.  He reached out and found the water bottle he had put on the floor by the bed and drank it down in three long swallows.  As he rolled out of bed he felt the chain rub on his ankle and winced.  The skin had broken some time ago and was clearly getting infected in this heat and dirt.  “That’ll be why I feel like shit then”.</p>
<p>He hadn’t had another visit from Evans, but he absolutely knew that it would be today.  Or so he hoped.  If he got sick then there was a chance he wouldn’t be strong enough to carry out the plan he had half formed in his head, and he was not going to give that little fuckface the chance to gloat at him.  Reaching under the mattress, he pulled out the wicked splinter he had hoarded and moved over to his usual place near the door.  This was where he spent most of the day, keeping his eyes on the sunlight, trying to remember what fresh air felt like - trying to get Tarsus out of his head.  Sometimes he would doze and that was worse because then he would dream, and wake up terrified and confused, panting as he tried to find his way out of the web of his memories.</p>
<p>Weirdly, he had dreamed about his father.  Seemed as if he had been a nice guy, he had thought at the time, somewhat flippantly.  Just a shame he wasn’t around to actually, you know, help.  <em>No good being a dead hero, daddy</em>, he had said to dream-George.  <em>Need you to come and let me out.  You never did it when I was a kid, but maybe this time…?</em></p>
<p>He rested his head against his pulled up knees and once again settled to a day of waiting.  It was all he could do.  He was as ready as he would ever be.  He just hoped it was today.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>So they were on a shuttle again.  This time, just a half dozen of them - himself, Spock, Sulu and two security officers.  And Admiral Pike, who had practically pushed Sulu out of the way and was flying the shuttle like a complete maniac. If Bones hadn’t been so desperate, he would have been terrified.  And unless he was very much mistaken, the Admiral was thoroughly enjoying himself, if the fixed grin and blazing eyes were any evidence.  All he needed was a cigar tucked in the corner of his mouth so that he could chew it from time to time…</p>
<p>“How far?” Bones asked for approximately the twentieth time in as many minutes.  They were heading for Homestead, but according to Spock the bunker wasn’t there.  It was perhaps half a day out of Omega (“in a crappy shuttle”, per Admiral Pike), which meant it was perhaps two hours in their vehicle.  According to Malone (or specifically Malone’s mind), it had been decided that Homestead would actually be too obvious.</p>
<p>“Another hour or so, kid”, said Pike not realising what he had said as his entire crew simply gazed at him.  The man was possessed.</p>
<p>What perhaps only Bones and Spock knew was how desperate Pike was to get there as well.  And even they only knew the half of it.  If anything happened to Jim, Pike would never forgive himself.</p>
<p>“Could I suggest you try and rest”, said Spock, turning from the instruments he was scanning.  “We have no idea what we will find when we land.  You need to be on top form, and you are still unwell”.</p>
<p>“Sure, I’ll just grab forty winks”, Bones growled.  “It’s not as if I have anything on my mind, after all”.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>The sound of the door opening roused Jim from his half doze, and he stood up, leaning against the wall, refusing to let Evans see just how bad he felt.  His ankle was throbbing in time with his heartbeat and the pain was going right up his spine and into his skull.  But this could be his chance.</p>
<p>“Missed you, buddy”, he said brightly as Evans appeared silhouetted in the doorway.  “Come to do your shit shovelling again?”</p>
<p>“Kirk, it wasn’t funny the first time, and it doesn’t improve with repetition”, said Evans, and Jim registered a different tone in his voice.  He was edgy, nervous this time.</p>
<p>“What’s happened, my friend?” he said, still keeping the tone light and facetious.  “Broken a nail?”</p>
<p>“Oh fuck off”.  Evans quickly dumped more water and food in the cell before putting the lidded bucket outside.  “You’re on borrowed time, Kirk, you must know that.  Maybe you shouldn’t annoy me”.</p>
<p>“But you’re so easy to annoy”, said Jim, beginning his casual slide around the wall.  “Why would that be, Evans?  Would it be because you can’t get hold of the high class skank you need?  Has - oh my little friend, has the chain been broken?  The big man been caught?  The Godfather?  The Boss Man?  Leader of the Gang?  So now you’re stuck trying to find whatever you can down your ass crack?”</p>
<p>That was very nearly too far, as Jim realised when he saw Evans’ face properly.  He was actually not far off being right, he suspected.  Evans looked strung out and sweaty.  He actually saw his finger tighten on the weapon that was pointed at him, although the weapon itself was wobbling a bit as Evans’ hand shook.</p>
<p>“Borrowed time”, Evans said again, and Jim shook his head.</p>
<p>“Why?  You’ve got to keep me alive until at least the <em>Enterprise</em> leaves, taking Bones away.  Not that he’s going to leave, by the way, but that’s for another day.  What you can’t really do is keep me here for that long because I won’t make it”.</p>
<p>“And why does that matter?  You seem to think you’re going to get out of it”.</p>
<p>“Oh, I will”, said Jim with absolute certainty.  “One of us will walk away from this, my little druggie friend, and it won’t be you”.</p>
<p>He saw the change in finger pressure and dropped to his knees as the wall where he had been standing took the full force of the weapon.  He reached out and grabbed the splinter and then simply launched himself at Evans, no room for elegance or thought, just dirty street-fighting, and Jim Kirk was good at that.  <em>And I’m bare-ass naked</em>, the wild thought went through his head.  <em>Just what is this asshole planning on grabbing hold of?</em></p>
<p>He reached out as soon as he could and wrapped his free hand in Evans’ hair, which he used to wrench back his head.  And then with a sound that Bones would never recognise but which came straight from a lost little boy on a dying planet, he plunged the splinter into the joint where neck met shoulder.</p>
<p>Evans, taken absolutely by surprise at the suddenness of the attack had no time to respond.  It was only at the very last second that he managed to move enough so that Jim missed his target, but still managed to inflict immense damage, and Evans screamed as he put his hand against the wound in his neck.  Jim was astride him, and Evans realised in that single second that he was going to die.</p>
<p>Jim left the splinter in place, not wanting to waste time trying to pull it out.  He had to act quickly, he knew that.  He hadn’t eaten properly for days, hadn’t really moved and was weaker than he had realised.  As Evans squirmed beneath him, he shifted his weight again and again, trying to get purchase with his knees and thighs, one hand still wrapped firmly in Evans’ hair, the other clenched into a fist, ready to take the shot.</p>
<p>He finally got a good opening and punched him hard on the point of his jaw, rocking Evans’ head back into the dirt and stunning him.  Then he slid off, grabbed the chain that held him trapped, looped it around Evans’ neck and began to pull.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Thanks to the maniac piloting the shuttle, the little group of would-be rescuers were on the ground earlier than expected.  Pike was wild-eyed and pumped full of adrenaline to the extent that Bones considered sedating him.  </p>
<p>He himself had hit a wall.  He wanted to believe that Jim was fine, of course he did.  But why would these leeches keep him alive?  He was more dangerous to them alive than dead, and it would be easier all round to kill him, and Jim wouldn’t help himself because that boy had no filter between brain and action.  Bones had often told him that he had never understood how the kid had made it to adulthood, and Jim had simply smirked.  God, he wanted to see that smirk again; to see the grin he wanted to bottle and carry with him.  He wanted the explosive temper and the - imaginative - language.  And he wanted to wake up with him for the next century or so.  He didn’t want it to end before it had even started, simply because he had punched some asshole who stepped over the line.  Sordid.</p>
<p><em>We go out in a blaze of glory, my friend,</em> Jim had said to him a few months ago.  <em>We’re not fading away into obscurity.</em></p>
<p>Bones thought that fading away into obscurity sounded pretty good right about now.</p>
<p>“Where now?” he said as they gathered outside the transport.  He looked around.  “We’re in the middle of nowhere here”.  He scanned the surrounding area again.  Scrubby little woods and rough country.  Nothing that hit the eye as being significant.</p>
<p>“He’s here somewhere”, said Pike.  “Within this area.  There are a lot of bunkers here.  They’re a holdover from the final civil war on this planet before they joined the Federation.  He’s in one of these”.</p>
<p>“I swear I’m going to install a tracking device on him when I get hold of him”, said Bones.  “That kid causes so many problems”.</p>
<p>“Tell me about it”, said Pike with a half smile.  “Keeps life interesting”.</p>
<p>Bones simply stared, unable to think of a reply.  “I don’t recognise you”, he said finally.</p>
<p>Pike grinned again, that slightly manic smile, and pointed in various directions.  “Split up”, he commanded.  “He’s here somewhere, he’s real close.  We have to find him now.  Keep in touch”.</p>
<p>“Fan out in all directions”, Bones muttered, slightly deleriously.  One of Jim’s favourite action-man quotes, usually used during shopping trips when looking for a particular type of pasta.</p>
<p>Pike looked at him sharply.  “Are you all right, Doctor McCoy?”</p>
<p>“I’m as fine as you are, sir”, Bones snapped back.  “Can we please just find him?”</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>He didn’t know when the voice had started, but slowly it impinged on Jim’s awareness.</p>
<p>“Let him go, sweetheart.  Not worth it.  Just let him go.  I’m here now.  We’re together again.  Come on, love, let him go.  It’s me”.</p>
<p>He looked up, shaking his head to get the sweaty hair out of his eyes.  Sure sounded like Bones.  He was sicker than he thought.</p>
<p>Then he felt a touch on his shoulder.  “Come on, love, let him go”.</p>
<p>A hand appeared over his shoulder, resting on his where he held the chain.  “Come on, son, let him go”.</p>
<p>Without even realising he was doing it, Jim leaned backwards against the figure that was kneeling there, aware of arms coming around him, holding his wrists.  His hands were so cramped up he couldn’t let go, no matter how much he tried, but other people were there now, and one of them was peeling his fingers away from the chain.  He was distantly aware of cramp all the way up his arms and a weird, wheezy noise from somewhere.  He assumed it was him.</p>
<p>“Got you, love.  Oh, I’ve got you now”.</p>
<p><em>Bones.  It was fucking Bones.</em>  “Hey”, he said in a voice that was barely above a croak.  “What kept you?”</p>
<p>Bones made a sound between a laugh and a sob, lowering his head to rest against Jim’s greasy, matted hair.  “Oh, my Jim, the shit you put me through”.</p>
<p>Pike pulled away and contacted the other members of the team, then with another glance at McCoy, he turned his attention to the crumpled figure lying between Jim’s legs.</p>
<p>Evans was bleeding from a vicious neck wound, a large splinter of wood lying in the dirt beside him.  It looked as if it had been dislodged when Jim had wrapped a chain around Evans’ neck.  It would seem that Jim didn’t have the strength to finish the job, and although Evans was unconscious he was still breathing, albeit stertorously, his neck swollen and bruised.  Pike pulled the chain free and then drew in a sharp breath as he saw it was attached to Jim’s ankle, which was bloody and ragged.  He shook his head and then quickly sent a further message requesting cutting equipment.  One of the security team acknowledged the call and confirmed they would be there in a matter of minutes.</p>
<p>Then Pike looked at McCoy and Jim.  Jim was half lying, half sitting against Bones’ chest, eyes closed, cheek against Bones’ chest.  He looked tired and dirty and as if he hadn’t eaten for a few days, but he was alive and he was safe.  He looked around the filthy bunker, shocked at the idea that these people had been willing to keep Jim trapped here for however long it took.  It said, more than anything else, that they hadn’t been planning on letting him live for too much longer.</p>
<p>Bones had his arms wrapped around Jim, his own eyes closed, and right at that moment, it was very clear that nobody else existed.  Pike was deeply moved by what he saw, and with a nod, turned his attention back to Evans, not that he could do much.  Frankly, not that he wanted to do much.</p>
<p>“Bones?” Jim’s voice was quiet but lucid, and Bones kissed the sweaty hair and made a questioning noise in his throat.  “You came”.</p>
<p>“Course I did, you fool”, Bones said.   “Got sick of lying in bed all day without you to nag me”.</p>
<p>“Good answer”.  A faint smile.  “That fucker took my ring”.  And with that, Jim seemed to fall right off the edge of consciousness.  Frantically Bones checked his vitals as best he could, but he seemed to be okay as far as he could tell.  Just done in.  Bones knew how he felt.</p>
<p>“I’ve got you”, he said into Jim’s ear.  “I’ve always got you”.</p>
<p><em><b>Epilogue - One Month Later</b></em><br/>Jim woke up quite suddenly, doing his usual irritating thing of unconscious to puppy-dog intensity in the blink of an eye.  He lay where he was, eyes shifting around the room as they did every time he woke now, just to make sure he was where he expected to be and that nothing had happened.  He shifted his leg, again as he did every day, although since the skin grafts had taken, there was nothing to tell there had ever been a problem.  And then the last thing he did was raise his hand to his lips to check on his ring.  After that, his new waking up routine was complete.</p>
<p>He was wrapped in Bones’ arms which was another new thing.  Usually he was the one who was draped over the long-suffering Bones, but in the past month Bones had taken to holding onto him, almost suffocatingly.  He didn’t mind.  It was Bones’ way of saying how much it had affected him, how much it had hurt him, and Jim loved him for it.</p>
<p>“Hey, big man”, he said quietly.  “Wake up”.</p>
<p>“I am awake”, came the response.  “You okay?”</p>
<p>“Fine”.  He wriggled and Bones slackened his grip, just enough for Jim to shift himself so that he was more comfortable.</p>
<p>“Today’s the day”, Bones said.  “You ready for it?”</p>
<p>“Not really”, Jim admitted.  “Just want to forget about it now.  How about you?”</p>
<p>“No”, said Bones immediately.  “I want them to pay for what they did.  The lives they ruined and what they did to you and to me.  I’ll happily tell the security team anything they want to hear”.</p>
<p>“They’ll end up on a prison planet”.</p>
<p>“Sweetheart, they could end up floating in space for eternity for all that I care”.  Bones kissed Jim’s forehead.  “They have to pay”.  He pulled back. “What?  Are you feeling bad for them?</p>
<p>“No.  Yes.  No”.  Jim wrinkled his nose.  “Drugs are such a shit thing to get yourself lost in that I suppose I feel a bit sorry for - not for Malone, but Evans - I don’t know.  Sasha kind of broke my heart, to be honest.  I would never have thought she would be involved.  I was more worried about Rickson from the shuttle.  She never crossed my mind”.  He sighed and scrubbed his hands through his hair.  “I like Sasha, I truly do, and for her to be involved - it all comes back to fucking Malone and those fucking drugs”.  He shook his head.  “It’s confusing”.</p>
<p>“For your tiny brain maybe”, said Bones. “Sure, you like Sasha, but she’s still guilty of conspiring to kidnap you.  She has a brain though and it isn’t completely fried, so maybe she’ll be able to pull herself round.  But Malone is an asshole in it for money.  Ditto Evans, and I can’t even begin to say how much I hate druggies.  Neither of them cared about what it did to other people.  They were prepared to kill you”.  He paused.  “Although you know, that bit I understand”.</p>
<p>“You are a cruel and not at all amusing man”, Jim said mildly, smiling softly, running his hand down Bones’ chest.  “This has been a great month, hasn’t it?”</p>
<p>Bones shivered slightly at the soft touch and whispered, “It really, really has”.</p>
<p>“Think it’s always going to be like this?”</p>
<p>“What? Racing around after drug lords?”</p>
<p>“No, you imbecile”.  Jim smiled and kissed the spot his hand had just been covering.  “Like this”.  He waved his hand around and inadvertently smacked Bones on the side of the head.</p>
<p>“Violent?” Bones suggested.</p>
<p>“You can be such hard work”, Jim griped, nipping at the same spot.</p>
<p>“Ha!  Welcome to my world”.  Bones rolled Jim over onto his back and settled comfortably on top of him.  Then he just looked, drinking Jim in before he smiled.  “Yeah”, he said finally. “It’ll always be like this”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The End</p>
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